<p>What is the greatest virtue in your opinon?</p>
<pre><code> In the modern world, there are common proverbs such as: “No pain equals no gain” and “Whatever doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger”. These proverbs describe the virtue of endurance, and in my opinion, endurance is the greatest human virtue to have because it overpowers majorities and expresses self-reliance and self-belief. The effects of endurance can be seen through William Golding’s LORD OF THE FLIES and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s THE SCARLET LETTER.
In the Lord of the Flies, Ralph’s decision to stay true to his beliefs and endure the hardships that Jack relays proves that endurance is indeed the greatest human virtue. While trapped on an isolated island, a group of kids are left vulnerable and susceptible to the inevitable effects of nature and the leaderships of the protagonist, Ralph, and the antagonist, Jack. At first, Ralph takes the main role as leader, but then Jack decides to create another group to oppose Ralph and focus on only having fun and terrorizing. Soon enough, Ralph loses most of his members to Jack’s group, and is left outnumbered. But Ralph stays true to himself and endures the acts of Jack’s group, and eventually he is saved by the navy officer. By staying true to his beliefs of keeping the signal fire and keeping the ‘littleuns’ safe, he is able to endure the hardships and come out on top.
Not only is the virtue of endurance evident in Golding’s Lord of the Flies, but also in Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter. In a closed Puritan society, Hester Prine is branded with a scarlet “A” on her chest to serve as a reminder to everyone that Hester is an adulteress. Hester also has a baby named Pearl, who also serves as a constant reminder. Over the course of years, Hester decides to endure the gossip and shame, and truly goes out on a limb to portray herself as someone opposite of the person society portrays her as. Consquently, the villagers slowly discard their snotty attitudes toward Hester and they learnt o accept her as a being with a genuine heart who does not deserve such hatred and discontent. As a result, by enduring through shame and staying true to herself, she defies the majority of the village and truly makes a positive image of herself.
As one can see, endurance is seen through Lord of the Flies and The Scarlet Letter to be the best human virtue to have in order to defy the opposing majority. Thoreau once said, “Self-reliance is the greatest human virtue”, but endurance is comprised of both self-reliance and self-belief. Endurance is the key.
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